Thursday opened with a lively debate on the House floor over tacking a $2 monthly surcharge onto utility bills. Both the House and Senate passed slightly different versions of the bill. Baltimore Gas and Electric would use the money to speed up replacing aging pipelines.

"If this bill goes down, then everything that you're talking about, everything that you're concerned about, they can do. They can put a $5 surcharge, they could put a $100 surcharge," said House Economic Matters Committee Chairman Dereck Davis, D-District 25.

Overhauling the state's campaign finance laws held court on Lawyer's Mall. Legislation just introduced would increase transparency in campaign contributions and would close a loophole that lets limited liability companies and real estate investment trusts, for example, donate more than the legal limit.

"This has brought incredible amounts of money into the political system that are essentially unaccounted for," said Baltimore County Delegate Jon Cardin, D-District 11.

The measures would allow for same-day voter registration during early voting periods and calls for publicly funded local elections.

Government officials would face stiff fines if they fail to comply with the state's Open Meetings Act. First-time offenders would face up to a $1,000 fine and up to $10,000 for each subsequent offense, according to the bill.

Baltimore County Delegate Dan Morhaim, D-District 11, cited numerous examples of Sunshine Act violations, most recently when the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents met privately to decide that UMd. athletics would pull out of the ACC and join the Big Ten.

"What the bill would do is enable the Open Meetings Compliance Board to have some enforcement," Morhaim said.

Legislation to put fracking -- a method to extract natural gas from Marcellus shale -- on hold is leaving nothing to chance. Supporters rallied again outside the State House in favor of a moratorium.

"Get us these answers, show us what the threat and risk is, then give us a chance to make a determination about the final next steps," said Montgomery County Delegate Heather Mizuer, D-District 20, who sponsored the bill.